Kenya has been on the news a lot lately. The “youthquake” has shaken the political class, with people saying that it will no longer be business as usual. Questions how Kenya got to where it is currently are abound, but only time will tell.
There’s a rough understanding of issues that caused the recent protests that have caused destruction of property and loss of life. Analysts agree that a political class that has worked over the years to serve their selfish interests is part of the problem.
At 3:00 pm on June 25, angry OccupyParliment protesters stormed the usually quiet Parliament Road in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. They brought down the steel barriers around the parliament building in minutes, and the police responded with live bullets, leaving at least 45 people dead.
Greedy leaders
Ultimately, the bullets couldn’t stop the force of thousands of Kenyans. By 4 pm, the protesters had made the parliament building theirs as members of Parliament ran for safety. Running from the people who had elected them was the perfect symbolism for a parliament that had passed a bill the public had roundly rejected.
The Finance Bill contains proposals on how the government will raise revenues to fund its budget. The unpopular tax hikes in the 2024 bill aimed to raise an extra $2.7 billion.
The average Kenyan’s position is clear: increased taxation pushes people out of jobs even as the cost of living rises. Companies are responding to the macroeconomic environment by shutting down or scaling back operations.
While the people worry about their present and future, the Ruto administration has been reluctant to cut back on government excesses, increasing the budget of the first lady by 17.3% to KES696 million, while strapping off the school feeding programme in marginalised areas.
“Expensive watch and you still can’t tell your time is up?” posed one placard, referring to Ruto’s $67,000 (KES 8 million) Bulgari Octo Finissimo gold watch. Calls to address rampant corruption and hold leaders accountable were also loud during the march.
Broken promises
President William Ruto rode to power on a “bottom-up” economic agenda, promising to cut taxes, give small businesses interest-free loans and cut the country’s debt appetite by downsizing the government. Two years into his 5-year first term, Kenyans believe that his policies have worsened suffering.
Kenya’s crisis is partly blamed on the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed reforms programme to help the country manage its debt distress and cushion it from external shock. IMF had in January warned that its deal with East Africa’s largest economy could cause “unrest in connection with protests against the higher cost of living, need to raise more taxes, and the electoral process supported by the opposition”.
To the protesters, IMF’s push for austerity only targeted ordinary Kenyans. Ruto has been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money on unnecessary travels, totalling 62 foreign trips since coming to power 20 months ago–an average of three every month. “When he is not flying, he is lying,” read a protester’s sign during Tuesday’s demonstration. Politicians and his aides have been accused of arrogance, including his economic adviser, David Ndii, who called the demonstrators “digital wankers and spoilt brats”.
As the protests gathered pace, Ruto’s side failed to pick the negative sentiments on social media and local media outlets. The leader of the majority in parliament, Kimani Ichung’wa claimed that “many you see protesting in Nairobi with iPhones, they call themselves GenZ, they come to the demonstrations in Uber, afterwards, they go to KFC and eat chicken. They even drink bottled water”.
Miscalculations
The arrogance from Ruto’s side and several miscalculations like abducting perceived organisers led to the “mother of all protests” that brought Nairobi to its knees. When the dust settled, at least 23 protesters had been confirmed dead while several others were nursing gunshot wounds.
But the mood has been grim since the bill was introduced in parliament two months ago. In recent weeks, even areas that supported the president like his home region, Uasin Gishu, in western Kenya suddenly joined the #RejectFinanceBill calls online and offline. On Tuesday, thousands thronged the streets in his home base, piling pressure on him to drop the hardline stance.
“It is quite exhausting for good people when bad people are in power because it’s quite clear that these people have an unending reservoir of evil every single day you wake up and they have conjured another silly idea. Their only dreams are how to make life even more difficult for Kenyans. We must give it to them, they have depth in hurting Kenyans,” said Edwin Sifuna, Nairobi senator and opposition party ODM secretary-general.
Since coming to power, Ruto has passed unpopular reforms, betraying his lofty campaign promises. A month into office in 2022, he scrapped a fuel subsidy programme while increasing other levies that saw prices breach KES200. Currently, the prices have dropped below the mark, but taxes account for more than 40% of the retail prices.
Ruto also failed to reduce the cost of electricity as promised during campaigns. In just two months in office, the Energy Regulatory Authority (EPRA) increased the cost of power, raising the cost of production for manufacturers. On the campaign trail in 2022, Kenya’s economic decline and debt burden were key issues in the manifestos of the leading candidates–the country had borrowed close to KES8 trillion to fund a modern railway and roads.
In his first two years in office, the Ruto administration borrowed at a faster rate than his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta and spent lower on development. This is despite collecting more in taxes hence the growing public anger.
“There is a lot of pent-up anger due to the poor state of the economy. The joblessness and hopelessness among the young are reaching catastrophic levels. There is hardly anyone who isn’t suffering economically in this country. The lies this government tells are so disrespectful to the intelligence of Kenyans,” said Ephraim Njenga, an economist in Nairobi.
“Ruto talks about promoting manufacturing to create jobs. Yet the first thing he did was to raise the cost of power and fuel. The government has over the years enforced tax measures and policies that have made the country very uncompetitive.”
These sentiments dominated the cries of dozens of protestors who spoke to TechCabal. On Wednesday, Ruto returned the bill to parliament and signalled that his coalition would move and withdraw it. Questions arose as to why he didn’t listen to the people and had to wait until innocent lives were lost.
“Taking into consideration the widespread expression of dissatisfaction by members of the public on the contents of the Finance Bill, 2024, in the exercise of the powers conferred to me by article 115(1)(b) of the Constitution and having reservations on the contents of the bill in entirety, I decline to assent,” read a memorandum that was sent out after the public questioned the legality of the bill’s withdrawal that was widely reported by local and international outlets.
Alternate universe
Ruto’s administration out of touch with the realities facing the electorate caused the protests that turned deadly on Tuesday. The scramble to get a response amid allegations of state-sponsored abductions of influencers, musicals and activists further threatened to escalate the matter.
Reportedly, it took the pressure of diplomats and some religious leaders for the president to get off his high horse. But as he pushes the country into uncharted constitutional crisis, protesters and experts have doubts.
For instance, the administration has not explained what will now happen to the Appropriation Bill, which was passed by the parliament. The Finance Bill covers how government will collect revenues during the year while the Appropriation Bill spells out how taxes will be spent, technically making them twins.
While the moves appear to have de-escalated the tension for now, the afternoon of June 25 will have a lasting impact on how the country is governed. Protesters, mourning the loss of the ones who were gunned down, have vowed to remain unbowed on their quest for a better country.
